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Eternal Life

On February 21st, Billy Graham went on to be greeted by his maker in eternity.

It is funny how some blog posts just come to me. This is one of those. I don’t know what it is called exactly, but often I find that my attention is drawn to specific situations and had recently. Billy Graham’s passing was one of them. I had just watched an episode on the series The Crown where Billy Graham was having a crusade in Great Britain and was invited to visit Queen Elizabeth. In this episode was a scene where Elizabeth and her husband Phillip where Phillip said that he had been a Fuller Brush salesman.

At the same time, I started a new job in sales. Part of the reason was because I wanted to make more money, but another reason was so that I could personally become a better salesman. At the same time this story broke, I was in training for this new job this caused me to be particularly sensitive to Graham’s preaching style. It made me realize that Graham was Christ’s Closer. His style drew millions of people to the altar using many of the skills that made him a top salesman for Fuller Brush Company.

Preparing for Success

Before Billy Graham went out to each one of his prospects, he made sure that he had all the brushes neatly in his case as well as the necessary paperwork.
As an evangelist, the first thing that Billy Graham did was to prepare for his presentation. Back when he was traveling from one crusade to another, his team would go to the area and seek help from the local community in creating the backdrop. From the local population, his team brought in locals as ushers and to showcase local personnel.

Word of Mouth Advertising

In addition to creating a unique experience for his congregation, by using locals, he also had a team of word-of-mouth publicity announced throughout the area churches letting everyone know that he would be holding a crusade in his area. This word of mouth communication came from individuals who shared with those around them how they met Christ at one of Graham’s previous crusades.

He Was Passionate About His Offer

I am sure that when Billy Graham was selling Fuller Brushes that he truly believed in the brushes he sold. I am certain that he believed that every housewife needed the right tool for the right job and his brushes would make housework easier for housewives.

His passion for bringing others to Christ was far greater than his passion for Fuller Brushes. His passion for Christ was demonstrated in every sermon that he ever gave and millions of people recognized his genuine passion and accepted the call to Christ.

Showing the Problem

As a Fuller Brush Salesman, Graham would explain how the wrong tools made housework harder.
In his crusades, he would share statistics, he would share current events in which every person in the room could relate. He talked about the hopelessness of alcoholic, drug addiction, and loneliness.

Story Teller

In his Fuller Brush sales presentation, I would imagine that Graham told a lot of stories of other housewives who found success with Fuller brushes.
In his crusades, he not only told stories about how Christ had changed lives, he brought in guests who told how Christ changed their lives.

Sharing the Benefits and Grabbing the Heart-strings

To sell his brushes, he not only had to tell his prospects the features of the brushes, he had to share with them how each brush would affect the prospect individually. He would allow the customer to handle the brushes and allowed them to visualize how the brushes would make the drudgery of housekeeping easier.

In his crusades, he brought it all together, drawing out the feeling that showed each individual how awful their life without Christ was in a way that made them realize how hopeless their life was without Jesus, but he didn’t stop there, he let them know that Jesus was the only hope. He showed the benefits of a life with Christ. No more guilt, no more shame, peace, and happiness.

Going in for the Close

When Billy Graham saw that the moment was right, he took out his order forms and began filling out the sheet. He then took the orders for the brushes that the customer was ready to purchase.

At the crusade, once Graham had you by the heart, the choir started singing Just as I am. This is where Graham would draw you in for the close. He had opened your soul to realize that there was a void there that only Jesus Christ could fill. He then made the offer of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Hundreds, often thousands came forward and kneeled at the altar accepting Christ at the end of Graham’s presentation.

Although I am not a door to door salesperson nor am I any longer a preacher at a church, I am using similar techniques at my sales job. I have prepared for the day through training and mental preparation. When I get on a call, I first overcome my own resistance to my own fear of rejection. Then through story-telling and drawing on the heart strings, I paint a picture that makes customers want what I have to offer.

As a self-publisher, and book seller, I see that I need to use the same template for my own business. I am just starting a new phase in my publishing business where I am taking serious what Zig Zigler once said, “By helping others get what they want, I can be successful.”

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In the Beginning, everything was perfect. God had created everything that was good and man was part of that Good.

God told mankind that they could eat of any tree in the garden, except for from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The subtle serpent came and tricked Eve into eating of that tree. Because of their disobedience to God’s word, mankind–Adam and Eve were banished from the garden. God put a flaming sword to guard another important tree in the garden called The Tree of Life. Other consequences of their sin included hard work and pain in childbirth. He made the serpent crawl upon the ground and predicted that though the serpent would bruise his heel, the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head.

Sin Separated Man From God

After a time it seemed as though God rejected humans, but we soon learned that was not the case. If you’ll notice it said that God put the sword to guard the tree so that they would not live forever in their sins. If you will notice, when God entered the garden, he sought out Adam and Eve. They were the ones who separated themselves from their creator.

Just we put covers over electrical outlets to protect our children from themselves, God didn’t keep them from the Tree of Life to punish them, he did it to protect them from themselves. He didn’t want them living forever in their sins so he kept them from that tree.

As I looked more closely at the symbolism offered in the sword, I realized that the sword with its blade and hilt has a shape similar to the cross. The Word is often called the “Sword of the Spirit” and In John chapter one, John refers to Jesus as “The Word”.

Jesus said, “No man comes to the Father but by me.” (John 14:6)

Sin cannot remain in the same space that God occupies nor can God be where sin remains. When we allow sin to enter our lives, it ruins our relationship with God. Rebellion can make it seem as though God is far from us, however, all we need to do to get back in right fellowship with God is to allow the Word of God, Jesus Christ to change us so that our sins are forgiven and we can walk in the newness of life that is in Him.

The Word says that in order to be eternally saved, we have to agree that we have sinned, and we must if we want to accept Christ’s work on the cross. He has not rejected you.

Sin Isn’t the Only Reason God Seems Distant

Sin makes it seem as though God is far from us, however, just because God seems far from us, does not necessarily always mean that God seems far away because we have sinned. He desires to have a relationship with you, but you must come through Jesus to get to God.. Throughout the next quarter, I will be discussing how other people in the Bible often felt that God was far from them.. By examining these lives, we will learn that there are numerous reasons that God seems to too far away to care about us. In the process, we will learn that God isn’t punishing us for the wrong we have done, instead, he is demonstrating his mercy and grace despite the situations in which we find ourselves in this fallen world.

She is also the author of historical fiction series The Locket Saga. which includes When God Turned His Head and Soldiers Don’t Cry, the Locket Saga Continues, and, A Coward’s Solace, Book III of the Locket Saga. The next book Book IV of the Locket Saga: Sailing Under the Black Flag will be out in the near future.

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Things are going really well for me. This afternoon, I will have a book signing at the Corry Public Library in Corry Pennsylvania from 3-6pm. If you are in the area, I would love to see you there.

The other day I was at a Bible study and we read this verse. In the King James Bible, Proverbs 22:9 says He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed for he giveth bread to the poor.

We also looked at a couple other versions for instance, the New International Version says, “The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor.”

New American Standard Bible (NASB) says, “He who is generous will be blessed, for he gives some of his food to the poor.”

I like the King James Version here because of the use of the term “bountiful eye”. It relates to the way that the person relates to the world around him. The generous person sees God’s bountiful supply so he gives generously. In contrast, a person who sees lack in the world is going to see everything with an eye for lack rather than bounty this type of person will give willingly to the poor because he fears that he will not have enough.

A person with a bountiful eye has an eye toward the future. He sees hope in future events. He takes this verse in Luke 6:38 (KJV)to heart, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him,” Hebrews 11:6.

This bountiful eye is the eye of faith that God is and that he rewards those who seek him. The word seek here means to investigate, crave search out, to discover his essence.

Be Generous for Jesus Sake

Galatians 6:7 and 8 says, 7)“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. 8) For he that sow to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sow to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”

I would be extremely negligent if I didn’t bring up the fact that this bountiful eye should not be limited to our present life. This bountiful eye must focus on our eternal spiritual life. However, this is not to say that God will not allow us to have bounty here in lifetime. He did not call probably has not called us a vow of poverty. What he does want us to realize however, is that our life in this world is only temporary and will one day pass away. Our focus should be on sowing for our future in eternity..

We need to remember that we give generously, not because we are going to get something for our generosity, but in recognizing the gift that Jesus Christ gave us. He gave us his life.

She is also the author of historical fiction series The Locket Saga. which includes When God Turned His Head and Soldiers Don’t Cry, the Locket Saga Continues, and, A Coward’s Solace, Book III of the Locket Saga. The next book Book IV of the Locket Saga: Sailing Under the Black Flag will be out in the near future.

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Controversial Passages?

I have been saying that God created light, but that darkness already existed. I used the verses in Genesis one to show that God created light and then separated the light from the darkness. The verses didn’t say that he created the darkness. The verse says nothing about the idea that he made darkness, but in this passage, he separated the light from the darkness. Evil is always associated with darkness because it was not part of God’s light or what he creates because all that he creates (as it says in Genesis one) is good. I put this idea to a Bible study that I attend, and the idea wasn’t well received, however, several other people that I approached who also knew the Bible understood my stance.

One of my friends from the Bible study said that she had recently read that God created evil and darkness. She pointed out the verse–Isaiah 45:7 which says “I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.”

And yet I John 1:5 says, “This then is the message which we heard of him (Jesus Christ) and declare unto you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.”

These two verses seem to contradict one another, but do they really?

Let’s first look at Isaiah 45:7 for a moment in context with the rest of the passage. What he is doing here is showing that he created contrast between light and darkness. Because he formed light, he created the contrast with darkness. Because he created peace, he created a contrast with evil.

In Genesis, he told Adam and Eve that if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would die. They knew the light of God already. It was the darkness of evil that they did not know. When they ate of the tree, they then knew the contrast of good which was evil.

In contrast, the Israelites were given the law so that they would have a contrast between what was right and wrong. Before they had the law they did not know transgression because they did not know the law. Afterwards, they had a contrast between sin and righteousness. They couldn’t live up to it.

Jesus is the Only Way to God’s Eternal Life

When we understand that God’s way is separate from the way of the world, that there is no darkness (evil) in God and that God is only light (good), then we should be able to understand that it is not through the law that we are saved, but he offers us the only way in his son Jesus. If everything EXCEPT Jesus is in darkness and evil is in darkness, then the only way to eternal life with God is by following Jesus. I know, that’s a spiritual concept that few can grasp even among Bible believers, but it true whether we believe it or not. As it says in Acts 4:12 “There is no other name (authority) given among men whereby we must be saved. God is tolerant on a lot of things, but not on this point. Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

I John 1:6-7-If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowsip one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin.”

Another Related Seemingly Contradicting Passage

“What about what it says in Romans 9:14-24,”, you may ask, “where it talks about God raising up the Pharaoh that he could demonstrate his (God’s) mercy to Moses?” The word there for raised is not the idea that he “made him that way” but that word “raised”does not mean that he created Pharaoh for that purpose. It means that he “resuscitated him or kept him alive”. When I read that passage in that context,, God kept Pharaoh from destruction to prove to Moses God’s ultimate power over the Pharaoh. Pharaoh was marked for destruction or God’s wrath, but God prolonged his life for Moses’ sake so that Moses could see that God was even more powerful than Pharaoh. In other words, God knew that it would take this object lesson for Moses to fully trust God.

God is Always Good

If we stand by the idea that God is always good, that he always works from wanted the best for you as his follower, it does make it easier to understand these verses that seem to contradict that idea. When we come across one of these verses that seem to indicate that God makes evil or bad things happen, we should take a moment and examine those verses more closely. If like the Bereans of Acts 17:10-12, we search the scriptures ourselves and not just listen to what others tell us the word says, we will discover that Romans 8:28 is exactly true, “All things (DO!)work to the good of those who love the Lord who are called according to His purpose.”

She is also the author of historical fiction series The Locket Saga. which includes When God Turned His Head and Soldiers Don’t Cry, the Locket Saga Continues, and, A Coward’s Solace, Book III of the Locket Saga. The next book Book IV of the Locket Saga: Sailing Under the Black Flag will be out in the near future.

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Psalm 145:9 says that God is good to all, and his mercies are over all of his works. God does not make anything or anyone for that matter that he destined to be bad. There is redemption available for anyone. God always wants the best for everyone.

What Must I do To Be Saved?

In the Bible a young man exactly this question of Jesus.

Mark 10:17-18 says:

As Jesus started on His way, a man ran up and knelt before Him. “Good Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God.

Good can only come from God. If we decide that we don’t want to follow God, we doom ourselves to less than God’s best for us. We might have a decent life here, but we have more than just our lifetime here to consider. We have an eternity.

Jesus went on in Mark 10:19 to say to the man, “You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, and honor your father and mother.”

In Mark 10:20 came the man’s reply “Master, all these have I observed from my youth.

Mark 10:21-Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said to him, “There is one thing you lack: Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

Mark 10:22-But the man was saddened by these words and went away in sorrow, because he had great wealth.

Mark 10:23-Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

Mark 10:24-And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!

Do you noticed that the disciples were shocked by what Jesus had said. He said that it was hard for a rich man to get into heaven and then he said that it was hard for anyone to get into heaven.

Mark 10:25-It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Some have suggested that needle’s eye, or the eye of the needle, was a small gate at the entrance of Jerusalem and other cities. They say that when the city-keepers locked the main gates for the night, camels and their owners who arrived after the lock-out could squeeze through this gate. However, there is no ancient evidence to this idea that these gates were called “the eye of the needle”

Another theory is that camel is a mistranslation of the Aramaic word which also means rope. What they say that the passage means is that it is hard difficult to pass a rope through the eye of a needle. This a weak interpretation of this word.

These examples try to downplay the difficulty that Jesus is trying to show his disciples. Camels always got into the city gate. Anyone could untwist a piece of rope to thread it through the eye of a sewing needle. He was saying that money can easily get in the way of salvation. Too often we look to money or doctors, rather than God as our source. The rich young ruler was said because Jesus said his riches got between him and God.

Mark 10:26-27-

They (the disciplies) were even more astonished and said to one another, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

Notice that it says that it is impossible for man, but then it says but not with God. This is saying that man can’t be saved by himself, but it takes man with God to be saved. It doesn’t say that only God can do it. It takes man too. It takes our cooperation with God to be saved.

The eye of the needle was not a little gate nor was the camel a rope. What these verses are saying is that man cannot put his possessions before his love of God, and only with God could he be saved, However, it doesn’t say that you have to be poor to be saved either. Anyone who lines himself up with what God wants for his life will be saved. God doesn’t have favorites.

What Exactly Do I Need to Do to Be Saved?

Notice too how Jesus said, “sell all that you have and follow me. He didn’t say follow God, he said follow Jesus. In Acts 4:12 it says, “There is no other name (authority other than Jesus) under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.”

I John 4:1-2 says that if we do not believe that Jesus was the Messiah (translated in Greek as Christ) come in the flesh, we did not know the truth and it is the spirit of the anti-Christ.

We are to believe the Jesus is our salvation come in the flesh to the point that we are willing to give up all that we have and follow him. Abraham did it. He offered Isaac, but God didn’t require it of him. That’s not to say that he wouldn’t require you give up everything you think you have, however. The disciples offered their lives and God kept them.

I have listened lately to some popular preachers on the television who never once mentioned the name of Jesus in their prosperity or positive thinking speeches. They talk about God, but never Jesus. I will not judge them, but for me, a salvation message is no salvation message without Jesus as the center of that message. If God wants you rich, I have no problem with it. Like Jesus told Peter at the end of the gospel of John, if he wants that person to live forever in his wealth, what does it matter to me? I however, would be an unfit minister of the Gospel if I didn’t tell you that Jesus is the only way to Eternal life.

She is also the author of historical fiction series The Locket Saga. which includes When God Turned His Head and Soldiers Don’t Cry, the Locket Saga Continues, and most recently, A Coward’s Solace, Book III of the Locket Saga

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A few days ago a friend of mine posted this on Facebook:
“As I was preparing to take Communion today, Holy Spirit dropped a revelation down into my spirit. Here goes: At the last supper, after Jesus gave His disciples the bread, He poured the wine and said to them “Drink ye ALL of it.” (Mt. 26:27) I thought that He meant that there shouldn’t be any wine left over, so drink it all up. (yep, I did think it meant that…lol.) What He revealed to me was what Jesus was really saying. (28) “For this is my blood of the NEW testament/NEW covenant, which is shed for many (whosoever will) for the remission of sins.. (29) But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it NEW with YOU in my Father’s kingdom.” ~Along with the communion cup we partake of now, we take in ALL that Jesus died to give us. Remission of sins AND our NEW covenant legal standing in our Father’s kingdom, and every NEW covenant promise He died to provide for ALL of us. Drink ye ALL of it means you drink in ALL I give and ALL I gave for ALL of you in the kingdom of God. Praise Him forevermore for His finished work.”

This is related to something that the Lord has been telling me. During our Wednesday night Bible Study, we have started going through the Psalms. As I was preparing for this lesson I came across this verse and the Lord spoke to me in it.

Psalm 2:8 “Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.”

The words ASK OF ME were what got my attention at first because the Lord had been placing another verse on my heart over the past several weeks.

“You lust and have not, you kill and desire to have and cannot obtain, you fight and war, yet you have not, because you ask not. You ask and receive not because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts.” James 4:2-3).

You ask, but you ask amiss-you ask with selfish motive but you are also not asking God. You’re asking everyone else to help you. You’re asking the doctors, the nurses, the banker, the preacher. You’re asking your friends to pray for you, but you fail to ask me. I want you to know that I am your source. I want to share all the good things with you that I have for you. I want to bless you more abundantly than you can imagine, but you are not asking ME. I am your source, not the doctors, not the nurses, not the bankers, not your employer, not your government, and not your preacher.
It’s okay that your friends pray for you, but I am looking for a relationship with you. I want to be your father, I want to give you every good thing, but you must first receive what only I can give and that is my love through my son Jesus.
When you read Psalm 2:8 in context with the rest of Psalm 2, you will see that he is talking to his son Jesus here, but as believers we are in Christ, so he is also talking about us.
It is easy enough to understand what the Father Creator means to give us the uttermost parts of the earth as our possession, but what does it mean that he shall “give the heathen for thine inheritance”?
As I sat here in my empty church building, I knew exactly what it means. He wants to give me heathens to disciple into the knowledge of him. He is telling me that since Jesus was “lifted up from the earth and that he would draw all men to himself”, that he would draw all men to himself.”
This word “heathen” literally means “gentiles” or as the Jews call them “goyim”. You and I are the heathen spoken of here. If we ask of him, he will bring others for us to disciple at whatever level we are ready to disciple others. He is looking for others. As Jesus had told his disciples, the harvest is ready, but the laborers are few. The laborers are also weak because we do not ask for the Lord’s guidance in journey through life. We are too busy asking others to do his will in our lives for us. It is time we started asking and listening to the one who is and has our source—our father, the creator of the universe, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ask with me that the Lord bring more of us Gentiles to himself. Ask him to bring more laborers into the harvest. I ask that I be able to share in this inheritance. I pray that you ask to labor in this harvest.

She is also the author of historical fiction series The Locket Saga. which includes When God Turned His Head and Soldiers Don’t Cry, the Locket Saga Continues, and most recently, A Coward’s Solace, Book III of the Locket Saga

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The beginning of Deuteronomy tells in the beginning of the twenty-eighth chapter about the blessings that God would place on his people, Israel, if they obey him. The second half of the chapter however is much darker because it tells about the curses that would incur if they didn’t obey God.
In Isaiah 30: It tells about how Israel obeyed God for a while, then when they found themselves in trouble went to Egypt (the world) for their comfort. Then when they found themselves in a corner and in even more trouble, they would finally cry out to God and God would open his arms to them again.
What they learned was is that they could not keep God’s laws on their own. Over and over again God gave them the chance to redeem themselves. Over and over again Israel as a country failed to be able to follow the plan that God for them. They kept going back to the world that not only hated them, but cheated them out of God’s blessings.

Help Only God Could Provide

They needed help and God already had a plan in place. It says in John 3:17, “the son of man did not come to condemn the Law but to fulfill it.” Jesus, God came to earth in the flesh,. He chose to come to earth as a baby, to live a holy life that was uncorrupted by the world system, and to give himself as the ultimate sacrifice fulfilled the law and offered his accomplishment back to us as the gift of salvation. He, in essence said, “I know you are unable to keep the law so I am keeping it for you. If you’ll agree that I am Lord of your life, I give my blessing back to you.”
He took the curses of Deuteronomy 28 to the cross with him. If we believe it, then we receive salvation not only from eternal damnation, but also from those curses.

But You Have to Ask

That’s not to say that we have automatic immunity. In Romans 3:23 it says, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. In other words, we have all earned death if we sin. What exactly is sin, you ask? Sin is simply disobeying God’s instruction or preferring to follow the ways of the world rather than following those instructions.
Jesus came to fulfill the law. It says in Romans 6:23, “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” It is in only in his offering of himself as our Savior that we can have right standing with God. In Romans 12:6 it says that he is our propitiation and, I John 2:1 says that he is our advocate with the father. As it says in John 3:18, all you have to do is believe. However, if you do not believe, it also says in the same verse that you are condemned already.
Are you ready to accept the gift? All you have to do is believe that he is who he says he is. Otherwise you remain at the whim of the world’s system.

She is also the author of historical fiction series The Locket Saga. which includes When God Turned His Head and Soldiers Don’t Cry, the Locket Saga Continues, and most recently, A Coward’s Solace, Book III of the Locket Saga.For more information about Cygnet Brown and her book, check out her website at http://www.cygnetbrow.com.